Brett Hendey

Kvart You might try posting the picture on the angloboerwar.com forum. A member there might have access to a QSA roll for foreigners. I think it is a QSA in the first photograph, while in the second the medal is clearly the BSACo Medal with its distinctive suspender. Regards Brett

An excellent collection, Chris. I am very envious. I was particularly interested to see the FID QSA to a "joiner". Would you mind giving his name? I am busy with a project on the FID, specifically the black scouts, many (or most) of whom did not get the QSA, even though they were clearly entitled according to the regulations. At least in the case of Natal, it was a civilian, the Secretary for Native Affairs, who blocked the award of the medal to the Natal Native Scouts. His reason was that the natives would flaunt their medals at the Boers of the Colony and annoy them. Regards Brett

Hi Brian I am pleased to see your first POW post at last! I am looking forward to seeing more. Regards Brett

The most common combination of medals awarded to South Africans who went on active service outside of their country is the 1939/45 Star, Africa Star, War Medal and Africa Service Medal. Not surprisingly, most often there is not much of a story to tell about the men behind the medals. However, sometimes an interesting, exciting or tragic story emerges instead. This was the case with the medal group awarded to a young man from Natal, Cyril Stokoe, who had served in the RNVR (SA Division) before the war and then volunteered to serve in the embryonic South Africa Navy. He was seconded to the Royal Navy and drafted to the cruiser, HMS Gloucester on 1/5/1940. A year later he was on HMS Gloucester when it was engaged in the Battle of Crete in the Mediterranean. The ship was attacked by German dive bombers and sunk. Of the 807 men aboard, only 83 survived to come home. Amongst the dead was Leading Seaman Stokoe and another 25 South Africans. The sinking of the HMS Gloucester was one of the epic stories of the Royal Navy during World War II. Stokoe's medals were claimed by his family. Brett

Hi John The badge with the ribbon was worn by service personnel while they were on leave and in civilian clothes. The orange flash in its various forms indicated that the person concerned had volunteered to serve outside the borders of South Africa. The round badge in the middle on the right is the King's Badge, which was awarded after a person was invalided out. Reid spent many months in hospital after being wounded by a German machine gun in Italy. It was the 1914/15 Star that was awarded to South Africans for service in GSWA. A few men who arrived to serve in German East Africa late in 1915 also qualified for this medal, although most GEA veterans received only the War and Victory Medals. The same applied to those personnel who served in the Middle East and Europe. Regards Brett

This is the medal group referred to in my previous post. Brett

An advantage with collecting South African WWII medals is that service records are available, unlike the case with British medals. South Africans took part in many significant actions on land sea and in the air, and researching their history can be very rewarding. My own personal favourite is a group of six medals awarded to a man from my 'home town'. Research revealed that he was wounded in a VC action in North Africa and that he had been at the same school as the VC winner., which also happened to be my old high school. He was later seriously wounded again during the Italian campaign. His medals came with badges and many other relics of his life, including a notebook in which his granddaughter had written a short biography, which ended, "He was my friend." Brett

Death of a loved one as a POW must have been particularly sad and stressful for their next-of-kin, a double misfortune to bear. Living in a country where the dead of past wars are being forgotten for political and cultural reasons, it is encouraging to see that this does not happen in countries with a well-educated and cultured population. I have a South African friend who has settled in Taiwan and, when I last heard from him in early November last year, he wrote as follows: "I'm in the midst of preparations for remembrance week. Apart from the big Remembrance Sunday event for the former allied nations at the memorial at the site of the former Kinkaseki POW Camp, we have a dedication of a memorial at the site of the Karenko POW Camp where the Allied high command and top civil officials were held following the falls of Singapore/Malaya, Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong and the Philippines and islands like Guam etc. We have the family of Maj Gen Merton Beckwith-Smith OC of 18th (British) Div captured at Singapore attending. Beckwith-Smith died in the camp on 11 November 1942." Had Beckwith-Smith died in South Africa, I can confidently say that, since 11 November passes largely without the honouring of war dead, the 60th anniversary of his death on that tragic day in the calendar would have received no civic recognition. Regards Brett

Not surprisingly, the SA Railways Police were far fewer in number than the SA Police, so any relics of their existence are relatively uncommon and fetch higher prices. Brett

I have the same French medals, but mine were purchased separately and did not belong to one individual. Regards Brett

Am I correct in believing that the military of India and Pakistan managed to maintain many of the traditions established under the British Raj? Brett

Hi Demir To have the UN Medal and other items that belonged to an identified Turkish soldier would be the ultimate prize for anyone interested in the Turkish Brigade in Korea! Regards Brett

Owain Pat Rundgren has kept me informed of progress in this matter and I am pleased that it has reached such a happy ending. After reading the account of Eric Rundgren's life, I thought,"They don't make them like that anymore.", but in fact they do, as anyone who knows Pat Rundgren can attest. The family genes have flourished in him. Regards Brett

The South African Korean War Medal, which was issued in 1953, was probably the last Union of South Africa medal to carry the crown and/or royal cypher. In an election in 1948, the Afrikaner Nationalists finally won the Boer War (1899-1902) and set about severing links with the British. The Korean War provided the Nationalists with an opportunity to openly demonstrate their disregard for the United Nations in general and Britain in particular. By committing only one SAAF squadron, South Africa contributed far less to the UN effort than Canada, Australia and New Zealand. After the war, the Queen's Korea Medal was rejected and SA's own medal was instituted instead. Another significant change that took place during the Korean War was the replacement of British-inspired uniforms, badges and other insignia with new designs, with some (e.g. NCO chevrons) reminiscent of Nazi patterns. (During WWII, Hitler had some very enthusiastic followers in SA.) Most of the initial draft of 2 Squadron SAAF personnel sent to Korea were WWII veterans wearing WWII-style uniforms and accessories. As the war progressed, the uniforms and accessories changed to become more distinctly South African and WWII veterans were replaced by post-war trained personnel. The transformation of South Africa into a short-lived Afrikaner Nationalist paradise was completed in 1960 when the country left the Commonwealth. Since 2 Squadron was attached to the US 18th Fighter-Bomber Group, some American-influenced changes also took place. One was the adoption of a distinctive shoulder patch, similar to those worn by men in US Squadrons. The first 2 Squadron patch was made with silk thread by Korean women seamstresses/laundresses. Patches in all shapes and sizes later became a feature of the SAAF. The display below shows some of the badges etc referred to above. Brett

Hi Demir It is good to see additions to this thread. Thank you for keeping us interested in Turkey's role in the Korean War. Regards Brett

Cheetah Squadron medal groups and other related items are not common and I see advertisements for them only a few times each year. Men who served in Korea are dying out so their once active veteran's group may no longer exist. The majority of South Africans have little sympathy or interest in the pre-1994 military history of this country, so in time the subject will be remembered only in other parts of the world - a repeat of the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe experience. Regards Brett PS 2 Squadron SAAF still exists in a fragile state. It is equipped with Gripen fighter-bombers, which seldom fly because of financial, personnel, maintenance and other problems.

Thank you for sharing your amazing Korean War collection with us. I am very envious! Seeing this collection is like receiving an early Christmas present. Regards Brett

Do you know the history of the helmet? Regards Brett

A wonderful collection of Korean War medals! Thank you for sharing it. I particularly like the 'Imjin collection'. I once aspired to one like it, but mine is limited to medal pairs to the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and Royal NZ Artillery, and a Presidential Unit Citation ribbon said to have been worn by a Gloucestershire Regiment man. Regards Brett

Mervyn The strangest part of the story of the service records is that they were offered to the dealer with the medals, but he took only the two driver's licences and not the official and original RN service records. When I contacted the family and offered to buy the papers, the approaches, which were made several times, proved fruitless. Very strange! I am hesitant about posting British medals here, because I have little of quality to share. BP I must check to see what of my small Korean War collection I have already posted on the GMIC. Regards Brett

Having had my Korean War medal collection out of storage for a short time, I thought I would share my latest acquisition, a group of five medals to C/JX. 760232 Petty Officer K W Stanyer RN. This group was sold by the PO's family to a local dealer and I obtained the medals from him. The group came with two driver's licences issued by the Federation of Malaya and Colony of Singapore to Stanyer in the mid-1950's. His address is given as the Military Corrective Establishment at Kinrara, near Kuala Lumpur. Although the family has Stanyer's service papers they have decided not to part with them. Also, they will not allow them to be copied. It seems that Stanyer's medals and his service history will be forever parted. Brett

BP Your post reminded me that several years ago I bought from a local militaria dealer a Presidential Unit Citation (formerly Distinguished Unit Citation) ribbon bar, which was said to have been worn by a member of the 1st Battalion Gloucester Regiment. Unfortunately, no name was recorded. The bar surfaced in South Africa, so it was far from home. This is the British-made version of the PUC with the olive background as worn with the No. 2 service uniform. It has obviously seen some wear. Regards Brett

BP I do not collect ribbon bars, but I would have kept that one if it had come my way. Regards Brett

Garth The girls probably do not, but their daughters might! However, depending on your age, it would be the granddaughters who would be the more interesting. It was all a long time ago. I was born in 1939 so I have only fragmentary memories of 1939-1945. It must have been in 1945 that my family hosted two Royal Marines on their way to the Far East and for many years afterwards they were remembered by some photographs in the family album and a Bofors cartridge case they left behind. Durban, and indeed South Africa, is no longer what it used to be, so the hospitality shown to uniformed men and women in the 1940's is unlikely to be repeated now. Regards Brett

That is a fantastic piece of history. Thank you for showing it. For many reasons you are fortunate that you do not live in South Africa, one being that it would be a nightmare trying to get that revolver licensed and thus legally owned. Regards Brett